Date-holder.



No. 634,880. Patented Oct. I7, i899. G. w. cuRTls & J. H. MARRIOTT.

DATE HOLDER.

(Application filed Jan. 27, 1898.)

(Nn Model.)

IINTTED STATES PATENT OEETCE.

GEORGE IV. CURTIS AND JAMES H. MARRIOT'IBOF LONG GROVE, IOWA.

DATE-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION formingl part of Letters Patent NO. 634,880, dated October 17, 1899.. Application led January 27, 1898. Serial No. 668,238. (No model.)

To all whont t Worry concern,.-

Be it known that we, GEORGE W. CURTIS and JAMES I-I. MARRIOTT, residing at Long Grove, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Printing-Stamp Holder, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to datediolders, but more particularly to that class in which movable type as used in dating-stamps are stored, so as to be readily accessible when a change of date is required; and with this object in view it consists in the parts and combination of parts, as will be more particularly pointed ont in the following specification and claims.

In order that persons skilled in the art to which our invention most nearly appertains may be enabled to make and use the same, we will now proceed to describe its construction and operation in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which* Figure l is a perspective view ot the dateholder made in accordance with our invention in position for practical operation. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same with the cover removed therefrom. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the lid open and plunger removed.

Like letters of reference mark the same parts wherever they occur in the various iigures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings by letters, A designates a rectangular box provided with the sides B and O and the inclined bottom D, forming the main body of our date-holder- The object of this inclined bottom is to assist the followers, hereinafter referred to, to slide the type down toward the lower end ot the rectangular boX.

E and F are longitudinal parallel partitions erected upon the bottom D and dividing the interior of the structure into three equal parallel compartments G, H, and I. Projecting into these compartments G, H, and I and secured to an end -plate J are three bars or plnngers G', II', and I of a suitable thickness and shape to readily slide in the said compartments, each of a length equal to the length of the compartment in which it rests, less the space taken up by all the type to be stored in such compartments, except the one in use in the stamp. In the rear thickened edge of the inclined bottom D is secured a coil-spring K, adapted to bear against the end plate J and hold it normally away from that end of the box a distance corresponding to the width of one of the dates. In the construction shown the types to print the years are stored in compartment G, those to print the month in compartment H, and those to print the days of the month in compartment I.

The date-holder is covered by a suitable lid L, provided with openings sufiiciently large to drop a type through into each of the compartments, so that for compartment G, being marked G2, that for H being H2, and that for I being I2. This lid may be hinged to the top or secured thereto by screws or in any other suitable manner, as may be desired. The openings G2, Hg, and I2 through the lid are placed in position to exactly correspond with the position of the latest-date type in each compartment when the said compartment is filled. In the forward ends of -the compartments G, I-I, and I are the retaining springs G3 H3 I3, secured, respectively, in the partitions E F and side wall C. Vhen the type are stored in their respective compartments, these retaining-springs bear against the end types to hold them securely in place. l

The operation of our device may be described as follows: As indicated in Fig. 2, the compartment G contains type for printing the .years from 1898 to 1902, the compartment H type for printing all the months of the year except April, and compartment I type for printing all the days ot the month except the twenty-eigl1th, (28th,) thus sup- .posing the dating-stamp containing type nec essary to make the date April 2S, 1897. The parts being in lthe position shown in Fig. 2 and the lid closed, as in Fig. l., the operator will remove the type for printing the twentyeighth day of the mon th from the dati 11g-stamp and drop it through the opening I2 in the lid, when it will fall into position immediately adjacent to the date twenty-seven (27) in the compartment I, as clearly shown. The end J,

carrying the plungers G',H,and I,will now be pushed in, which will force the whole columnof daily type toward the front end of the box, bringing the date thirty (30) where the date twenty-nine (29) is shown and dropping the IOO date twenty-nine (29) out on the table-through the front end ofthe compartment l. The date twenty-nine (29) can now be placed in the stamp, as the end plate J will be moved and its plungers will be moved to the positions they occupy in Fig. 2 under action of the coil-spring J. Should it be desired to change the month or year, the operation is precisely the same, and when the holder is first fitted up with' all its regular attachments thereon the open space between the columns of type and the plufngers, as shown in Fig. 2, will be illed with a date to be afterward placed in the stamp, and the parts will be in the position otherwise, as shown in Figs. l and 2.

The advantages of our invention will be apparent from the foregoing description.

Our date-holder will securely hold all the type not in use in the dating-stamp, and when one type is out of each compartment the movementof the pl ungers will have no effect on the type inside. When, however, a change is to be made, it is made with the precision of machinery, and there is no liability of error in fitting up the stamp with new dates. The next date must come out iirst if the type are properly distributed in making up the box.

While we have herein illustrated and described the best means now known to us for carrying out our invention, we Wish it to be understood that We do not confine ourselves to the exact details of construction shown, but hold that any slight changes or variations, such as would suggest themselves to the ordinary mechanic,l would properly fall within the limit and scope of our invention.

Having thus fully described our invention,

what we claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is

l. A printing-stamp holder consisting of parallel compartments having suitable partitions, an inclined bottom for said compartments, means for retaining Jthe type at one end of same, a head covering the other end, plungers adapted to enter the several compartments, and a spring adapted to keep said head normally away from the end of the holder, substantially as described and for the purpose stated.

2. A date-holder, consisting of a boX divided into parallel compartments by suitable partitions, one adapted to hold the type for printing the years, another, type for printing the months, and a third, type for printing the days of the month, provided with a movable head having a plunger projecting into each compartment of a length sufcient to fill the space not4 occupied by the type when one type has been removed from each compartment, substantially as described and for the purpose stated.

3. A date-holder,substantially as described, consisting cfa box divided into parallel compartments by suitable partitions, one adapted to hold type for printing the years, another,

type for printing the months, and a third,

type for printing the days of the month, re- Y taining-springs provided in one end of said compartments for holding the type in place, a movable rod having a plunger .projecting into each compartment of a length sufficient to fill the space not occupied by the type when one type has been removed from each compartment, and a coil-spring adapted to bear against the said movable head to keep it normally away from the end of the holder, substantially as described and for the purpose stated.

l. A date-holder,substantially as described, f

consisting of a box divided into parallel compartments, of suitable partitions,one adapted to hold the type for printing the years, an-

other, type tor-printing the months, and a third, type for printing the days of the month, provided with a movable rod having a plunger projecting into each compartment -of a distance sufficient to iill the space not occupied by the type when one of the type has been removed from each compartment, and having a lid covering all the compartments,

an opening into each compartment to admit a IOO the space not occupied bythe type when one of the type has been removed, from each compartment, and having a lid covering all the compartments with an opening in each compartment to admit a type at the end of each series, substantially as described and for the purpose stated.

6. The combination substantially as described, of the inclined bottom, sides, and the partitions forming compartments, retaining-springs at one end of each compartment, a plunger attached to the opposite end projecting into each compartment, a coil-spring interposed between the plunger end and the casing, a series of type in each compartment, and a cover provided with an opening over each compartment to admit a single type at one time, substantially as described and for the purpose stated.

Witnesses:

P. A. TEEPLE, DAVID PoLLocK. 

